With one less week, Home Depot sees Q4 sales slip

Excluding the additional week last year, HD sales increased 3.9% for the quarter

Atlanta-based The Home Deport reported fourth-quarter total sales of $17.7 billion. That's down 3.0% from the same quarter last year, which benefited from an extra week in the calendar.

On a 13-week basis, the company's sales actually increased 3.9%.

The world's largest home improvement retailer reported comp-store sales in the fourth quarter increased 4.4% company-wide and 4.9% in the United States. Net earnings were $1.01 billion, down slightly from $1.02 billion a year ago.

For the full year, the company pointed to strong performances across the board. Net sales increased 5.4% to $78.8 billion. (Excluding the 53rd week from the prior year, the incrase was 7.2%.) Comp-store sales increased 6.8% for the company, and increased 7.5% for the U.S.